Exclusive Interview with Stitchers’ Emma Ishta

Talk Nerdy With Us recently chatted with actress Emma Ishta who portrays Kirsten Clark on Freeform’s Stitchers. Below we discuss Camsten, the season 2 finale, and Emma’s hopes for season 3. Don’t miss the finale tonight at 10/9c.

Last week, fans met Ivy, were you as shocked as we were at how similar you and Sarah look?

Yeah, I think they did a really great job with casting her physically for the part. Also, obviously, she’s a fantastic actress and a lovely human being. We have a lot in common.

How will their relationship progress in the finale? Will they answer each other’s questions?

There will be some questions answered, and there will also be some really shocking questions asked. Ivy really drops a bombshell on Kirsten in this episode. Kirsten also does get closer to finding her father.

Well, that’s great. At the end of The Guest, Liam was murdered. How far in advance did you know that was going to happen? Did Jeff and the writers tell you earlier, or was it in the script that you found out?

There’s been a little bit of back and forth about when that was going to happen and if that was going to happen for a number of episodes, so I think we all anticipated that something was certainly going to happen with his character. I’m trying to think back because it was really a while ago that we got the script for nine. I think we kind of knew in that this was where it was heading.

Now that Liam is gone, how will Kirsten cope?

Well, I think that … They’re going to stitch into him in this episode, and I think that’s going to bring up a lot of emotional stuff for her, which she’s really been dealing with all season. I don’t know that she has any strong feelings for Liam exactly, but he is the link, or one of the links to her father. That means with him gone, Ivy’s the only one left now.

How does this finale compare to last year’s, because last year’s was really crazy?

You know, I think it’s also pretty crazy but in a very different way. I don’t want to say slower pace, because that doesn’t do it justice. I actually haven’t seen this episode yet. We shot two different endings. It’s possible that I don’t know how it’s going to end. Last season ended at a very fast paced way, and this season has emotionally high stakes, but it’s a little more … It’s just paced a little more differently if that makes sense.

Is there a reason you guys shot two different endings?

I think that there was just some disagreements about how it should end. We shot two different ones, and then I think the network was going to approve which one they liked.

In the trailer for All In, they tease the possibility of a Camsten kiss. Does it actually happen?

(laughs). I think you have to watch and see.

Going off of that, what was your favorite Camsten scene to shoot this season?

Oh, wow. There’s so many. Usually … Kyle and I always have so much fun shooting the scenes that we do together because they’re usually the most human moments on the show, and the most sort of character driven moments. We’ve really enjoyed building their whole relationship together. There was a scene in the third episode. When Kirsten tells Cameron that she just doesn’t know how she feels yet, and he says that he’ll wait. That episode was written by Eric Tuchman, a great write, and he really gave us a lot of freedom to make it our own. A lot of the dialogue is bare bones what he wrote, but also sort of improvised on a little bit. I think that was a really beautiful scene to shoot together. It felt very real and very honest. We both really enjoyed that one.

As Emma, do you think Cameron belongs with Kirsten or Nina?

Kirsten! At the same time, people ask all the time if we’re like shipping them or rooting for them to be together, and I think we just really enjoy developing this story and playing it out as it unfolds. But, yeah, I think he belongs with Kirsten more than Nina. Poor Nina.

Last year, there was a Halloween episode. Is there going to be one again this year?

No, sadly we didn’t shoot a Halloween episode this year.

Lastly, where do you see Kirsten going in the future, assuming that we do get a season three?

I see her continuing the growth of a human being, taking all of these emotions that she’s got this season and becoming more confident in herself. I’m interested to see how she manages the challenges that come her way. I want her to grow from a girl into a woman.